Why did my chickens stop laying?!

[greenmama79]

I have 5 girls who have been producing eggs since September so they are about 10 months old. They've been awesome producers laying an egg daily to every other day even during the short CO days. We only turn on the heat lamp when it gets down to the low single digits or below to keep the water from freezing. About a week ago we went 2 days without collecting eggs and came out to 11! Since then not one of them has laid an egg. I thought possibly broodiness from how many eggs we left in there but none of them are nesting. In fact they've started pooping in the nesting boxes but are still coming out during the day. I think they are too young for molting. I'm concerned, but they aren't acting sick. Help, we are so new to this.

 

[Judy]

There is supposed to be a partial molt around 9 months. Have you seen any increase in the number of feathers laying around, at all? It's also possible the cold weather has caused them to slow down for a while.

Here's a stickied thread on the subject:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/423023/why-arent-my-chickens-laying-here-are-your-answers/0_20

 

[blueyedgurl1]

I also have nine chickens that have almost stopped laying. They just turned one and are Buff's. The time has changed, so there is plenty of light. They were laying about an egg a day. Now for the past four days, I have only gotten 1-3 a day. Three weeks ago, we brought home two day old chicks and set them under the broodie. There were no issues with this. We introduced them to the flock three days later. They all tolerated this without incident. At the same time we brought home a young rooster. They are not molting. There are no feathers laying around. We feed layer mash and oyster shell freely along with kitchen scraps and yard clippings. They have a very large yard and house, which we clean once a month. The weather has been unpredictable this past week. It should be spring, but we have had a couple of days with freezing temps. Now back to spring type weather. We have also noticed a hawk that has actually landed in the chicken yard several times to eat the scraps that we give the chickens. When see him, we notice all the girls are inside the house with the rooster standing guard at the door. I have decided to just keep an eye on them, hoping that the problem is a combination of the above issues and will shortly resolve itself.The worst part is that it is Easter weekend, and I have to buy eggs!